Volume 40, Number 18

Volume 40, Number 18

News & Announcements

Support Letters Invited for Promotion Candidates... The following members of the faculty are currently being considered for promotion to full professor: Florence Amamoto (English), Philip Bryant (English), Cindy Johnson-Groh (biology), Paschal Kyoore (MLLC), and Toshiyuki Sakuragi (MLLC). Letters written on behalf of these candidates should be sent to Provost Mary Morton and should address the criteria for promotion to full professor as stated in the Faculty Manual (see below). Letters are due by Monday, Feb. 25, 2008 (NOTE THE NEW LATER DATE), by 4 p.m. All members of the Gustavus community are invited to submit letters.
Criteria for promotion to professor as stated in the Faculty Manual: In addition to the criteria set forth for assistant professors and for associate professors, the following apply:

The continuing excellence and growth as a teacher, as evidenced, for example, by student and peer evaluations, course and program development, or participation in workshops and seminars related to one's field of expertise or teaching.

Established record of professional accomplishments as evidenced, for example, by demonstrated research activities in private, public, or corporate settings; publications; presentations at scholarly meetings or conferences; (in the arts) exhibits or performances; and leadership in professional and/or public organizations, boards, or commissions related to one's academic field(s) or assignments.

An established record of leadership in the governance of the College in the candidate's department, in the faculty and its committees, or in other college positions.

(The fourth criterion, namely, "continuing evidence of sympathy with the aims and purposes of Gustavus Adolphus College as stated in the Mission Statement of the College," while not explicitly stated above, is implied in the first sentence of this section.)

YS Reminder... The Yellow Sheet will not be published during Reading and Touring Week (Feb. 7). Announcement of events and activities occuring between Feb. 8 and 13 should be submitted by Tuesday, Jan. 29, to be listed in the Yellow Sheet on Jan. 31. Publication resumes on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Appointment Times Still Available for Health Screening 2008... All employees, retirees, and spouses are invited to participate in the 2008 Health Screening free of charge. The dates are Feb. 4-8 and 11-15. Five-minute time increment appointments will be available during these dates between 6:30 and 9 a.m. on a first-call, first-serve basis. Thirty minutes of release time will be allowed for employees to participate in the screening. To sign up for a time, call the Human Resource Office at x7304 anytime Mon.-Fri. from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. or from 1:30 to 4:45 p.m.

'Break to Brush'... On Thursday, Feb. 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mary Oberlander, oral health coordinator, will be available outside Linner Lounge to answer all your dental-related questions. Participants will receive a free toothbrush and floss for coming! "Break to Brush" is brought to Gustavus by the St. Peter Family Dental Center.

Car Pool... A car pool has been organized for people commuting between Mankato and St. Peter. Pickup times, Mon.-Fri.: St. Peter to Mankato - 6-6:50 a.m.; Mankato to St. Peter - 7-7:20 a.m.; St Peter to Mankato - 5-5:20 p.m.; and Mankato to St Peter - 6:10-6:40 p.m. Cost is $14 weekly, or $4 per day. For more information or to reserve a place, contact Jessie by phone at 934-2356 or e-mail jtwaddle@gustavus.edu.

Campus Happenings

Chapel Schedule... All are invited to the worship services at 10 a.m. weekdays and 10:30 a.m. Sundays in Christ Chapel. The upcoming schedule is as follows:

Friday, Jan. 25 -
Steve Bennett (student affairs)

Sunday, Jan. 27 - Holy Communion: Chaplain Rachel Larson

Monday, Jan. 28 - Ben Hilding (sophomore student)

Tuesday, Jan. 29 - Kari Lipke (community service/chaplains' office)

Wednesday, Jan. 30 - Morning Praise

Thursday, Jan. 31 - Kyle Momsen (HES)

Friday, Feb. 1 -Epiphany Hymn Sing

Energy War... The College has joined
the "National Campus Energy Challenge," a project of more than 30 youth organizations in the United States and Canada. Participating institutions will be competing during the month of February to see which campus can lower its energy use (both heating and electricity) most compared to a baseline of the previous three Februarys. The kickoff at Gustavus is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 31, at 12:30 p.m. in the Evelyn Young Dining Room, where students will be able to pick up energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs for their residence hall rooms and see how much energy they can generate by pedaling stationary bicycles. Throughout the month of February, members of th eGustavus community will be monitoring their energy consumption through a new, state-of-the-art website at gustavus.edu/energy. The website will be updated hourly and accurately monitors energy use in most buildings on campus. Students, staff, and faculty will be able to view a building's energy use in a 24-hour period and the estimated cost of that energy use.

SumoRobot Contest... The Robotics Workshop January Interim class will be staging a SumoRobot competition on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in Wallenberg Auditorium (Nobel Hall of Science). Students in the Robotics Workshop class have been building Lego sumo robots during the month of January with the goal of beating a robot competitor in a three-foot diameter sumo ring. Come and watch as the robots battle it out.

Sustainable Farming Conference... The 17th annual conference of the Sustainable Farming Association (SFA) of Minnesota, titled "Local Foods: The Next Step," will be held on Saturday, Feb. 2, starting at 9 a.m. in the Jackson Campus Center. This year the event also includes a "Youth Sustainability Confabulation," starting at 2 p.m. on the previous day—Friday, Feb. 1. The schedule and program for these events is:

The SFA welcomes participation by the Gustavus community. For more information on either of these events or to register, contact Anna Borgendale at communications@sfa-mn.org or go to www.sfa-mn.org.

Enhancement Days Speaker to Address Unintentional Intolerance... The 2008 Employee Enhancement Days will be held Tuesday, Feb. 5, and Thursday, Feb. 7, in Alumni Hall. This annual event is open to all employees of the College. The featured speaker this year is
Steve Robbins, an authority on diversity, inclusion, and cultural competence who
has worked with institutions across the country including Microsoft, NASA, General Mills, and the Federal Reserve Bank. His interactive, humorous, and eye-opening presentation, "Unintentional Intolerance: What NICE People Need to Know," explores the hows and whys surrounding unintentional intolerance, and also gives the antidote for such behavior. Unintentional intolerance refers to the manner in which well-meaning people (and organizations) go about potentially excluding others, even when they want to include them. Research and experience tell us we all have biases we are often unaware of, or think little about. These biases influence our decision-making, behaviors, and attributions of others on a daily basis. Could we be making “bad” decisions and engaging in exclusive behavior without knowing?
The complete schedule for Enhancement Days:
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008

All sessions are in Alumni Hall. Free massages are offered on Thursday (a drawing for massages will be held after each presentation on Tuesday). Free "Break to Brush" kits will also be distributed on Thursday.

Reservations Still Being Accepted for Continuing Education Valentine's Day Dinner... You're invited to attend a Valentine’s Day party with a friend or a "dear heart" for good music, good company, and a good meal. The Continuing Education program has booked the Echo's, St. Peter’s own big band, for the party, but you need to reserve places by Jan. 28 at the St. Peter Community and Family Education desk in the Community Center. The event will be held in Alumni Hall starting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14. Cost is $44 per couple (or $22 if you're coming alone). Seating is limited, so reserve early! Parties desiring to share a table (6/table) should make that known when making their reservations. In the event of adverse weather, an alternate date of Feb. 28, 2008, has been established (same venue, same time). To check on the status of the party if the weather is questionable, call 933-6181 or check http://arboretum.blog.gustavus.edu.

Off-Campus Events of Interest

VINE Waffle Feed... "Dad's Belgian Waffle Feed" will be held from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10, at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Peter. Tickets are $7 at the door, but $6 advance tickets are available from Lynn Boehne (x7686) in the Office of Admission. All proceeds benefit VINE Faith in Action, an interfaith volunteer caregiving program serving St. Peter and rural Nicollet County.

Join the St. Peter Community for the Winter Read... St. Peter Reads invites you to join the community in the Winter Read during Winterfest 2008. Award-winning Fairmont author Nathan Jorgenson will be coming to St. Peter to discuss his books, Waiting for White Horses and The Mulligan. He will be at the St. Peter Public Library for a reception and book signing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, followed by a talk on both of the books at 7 p.m. just around the corner in Room 219 of the St. Peter Community Center. Waiting For White Horses was born as a short story, to give Jorgenson some closure for the loss of his father and of his best friend. The Mulligan, says the author, a practicing dentist in Fairmont, Minn., "simply took a few of the things that weigh on most middle-aged people and built them into something that might cause a successful person to leave their life behind and try to reclaim whatever it was that they felt they should have found in life. . . . I read that 90 percent of Americans are unhappy with their jobs, and 43 percent have failed at marriage. There seems to be a large audience for a story about someone questioning whether their life is justified, and whether there was any meaning to it all."
The books for the St. Peter Reads program can be found to borrow or for sale at various businesses around town. Books are available for purchase at St. Peter Community & Family Education, the St. Peter Public Library, the Book Mark at Gustavus, the Treaty Site History Center, Nutter Clothing, Whiskey River Emporium, St. Peter Food Co-op, Swedish Kontur, and River Rock Coffee. Books are available for loan at the St. Peter Public Library, Econo-Foods Pharmacy, St. Peter Food Co-op, the St. Peter Herald, Whiskey River Emporium, and River Rock Coffee.

Extraordinary People

From January 18 to 20, Darrell Jodock (religion), President James Peterson, and Grady St. Dennis (church relations) attended the 2008 meeting of the Western Mission Network of the ELCA, held at the Spirit in the Desert Retreat Center in Carefree, Ariz. The theme of the meeting was "Discerning and Claiming our Vocation as Institutions, Agencies, and Ministries." The Western Mission Network is an association of ELCA seminaries, colleges, continuing education centers, synodicallly authorized education programs, and other similar groups in the western portion of the United States. The participants seek ways to partner together to provide life-long theological education for all the church members in regions 1, 2, and 3 (from Minnesota west and southwest). The focus of discussion this year was on the role of the colleges.

Obituaries

Harry Dunscombe (music, ret.), part-time instructor of 'cello, 2001-2005, died on Jan. 21, 2008, at his home in Georgia.

To inform the campus community of the death of a current student, employee, or trustee; an emeritus professor or trustee; or an immediate family member of a current employee, contact the Office of the President (x7538 or pleagjel@gustavus.edu). Death announcements and funeral notices for students, current and emeritus faculty and employees, and trustees will be sent to the community via written notice from the president, posted on community-l, the official campus-wide e-mail list, and published in the Yellow Sheet or Summer Scoop. Notices for immediate family members of current employees will be published in the Yellow Sheet or the Summer Scoop unless they occur during a publication break, in which case they will be posted on employee-l.

New Faces

The following people have recently joined the Gustavus community:

New Administrators

Ruth Johnson, interim assistant dean of students (student affairs)

New Support Staff

Cindy Compton, part-time custodian (physical plant)

Justin Francis, dishroom (Dining Service)

Janet Glackler, part-time cashier (Dining Service)

Funding Opps

The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations' weekly program or funding opportunity highlight:

Kluge Fellowships... The Library of Congress invites qualified scholars to conduct research in the John W. Kluge Center, using the Library of Congress collections and resources for a period of 6-11 months. The Center especially encourages humanistic and social science research that makes use of the Library's large and varied collections. Interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, or multi-lingual research is particularly welcome. Deep special collections of manuscripts, maps, music, films, recorded sound, prints, and photographs are available, as well as multilingual collections of books and periodicals. Scholars who have received a terminal advanced degree within the past seven years in the humanities or social sciences are eligible. Fellows are awarded a stipend of $4,000 per month. Fellows may be in residence at any time during the 14-month window between June 1 of the year in which the fellowship is awarded and August 1 of the following year. The deadline for the upcoming competition is July 15. For more information, please see http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/fellowships/kluge.html.

For more information on grants or proposal preparation, contact Bob Weisenfeld in the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations (x7049 or bweis@gustavus.edu).

In the Media

Here are some noteworthy Gustavus-related stories that recently appeared in print or broadcast media around the nation:

The Star Tribune printed a front-page story about 1979 alumnus Kevin Kling on Sunday, Jan. 20. Rob Gardner (theatre, emeritus) was quoted in the story.

The Mankato Free Press printed a story on Jan. 17 about upcoming events at local colleges. The story featured events at the Hillstrom Museum of Art.

The Mankato Free Press printed a news brief on Jan. 18 about the Gustavus soccer teams traveling to Greece.

The St. Peter Herald printed stories about the "Building Bridges" Conference and an art exhibit of drawings by Kris Lowe (art) in its Jan. 10 edition.

The Mankato Free Press printed a news brief about the Reds fraternity and their participation in the Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 21.

The Metro Lutheran printed a full-page feature story by Kathryn Christenson (college relations, ret.) on Gustavus students Katie Jorgensen and Ben Carlson in its February edition. The publication intends to check in with these two studetns regularly to learn about the challenges they face, the opportunites they embrace, and the directions their lives of faith are taking them.
-The Metro Lutheran printed a story about the "Building Bridges" Conference in its February edition.

Anyone who has suggested additions for this list, suggestions for potential future media stories, or interest in being a media source should contact Marketing and Communication (x7520 or ga_news@gustavus.edu).

Postal Pointers

Federal Express (FedEx) Information... The College contracts with FedEx for express shipments. The College Postal Service has supplies available for FedEx shipments. Shipments sent by FedEx have a guaranteed delivery date and time and can be tracked online through a link on the College Postal Service website. FedEx picks up packages from the College Postal Service at 3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Departments should take FedEx shipments to the bulk mail room for processing. Shipments for individuals can be processed at the College Post Office main window.

The Yellow Sheet is a newsletter for Gustavus Adolphus College employees produced by the Office of Marketing and Communication. It is published weekly during the academic year (except during the week of Thanksgiving, the Christmas break, Touring Week, and the Spring and Easter breaks). Anyone may submit items by filling out an online submission form. While online, e-mail submissions are preferred, items may also be submitted typewritten on a letter-sized sheet of paper. Send "snail mail" items to: The Yellow Sheet, Office of Marketing and Communication. Items must reach the office no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday before publication. The week of Nobel Conference the deadline is 4:30 p.m. Monday. For more information, contact Steve Waldhauser (ga_news@gustavus.edu or x6413).